OECD publishes communications industry outlook.(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)(Industry Overview)

European Telecom, September, 2005

The communications industry has returned to profitability, but developments in Internet technology are challenging the role and business model of traditional telecoms companies, creating pressures for a new approach to industry regulation, according to the OECD's Communications Outlook 2005

The growing popularity of Internet telephony, or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), threatens the fixed-line revenues of traditional carriers, especially for international calls, the OECD report concludes.

In addition, however, VoIP presents a challenge to mobile telephones, which in many countries are now more numerous than fixed connections.

In 2003, for the first time ever, the number of fixed phone lines actually fell in OECD countries, with mobile...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.